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Thursday, January 28, 2010

Cool, Jaunty, Flippant, Arrogant and Stubbornly Wrong

The wrong tone at the wrong time. I found it painful to listen to Obama and watch the fools on the hill and the charade in front of him. I was tempted to say we deserve better than this, but then the collective decision was to pick this man at this time and that is proving to be very unfortunate.

I was listening for something hopeful, something different for this time, something that would have a chance at working. Instead, I watched a rehearsed, clipped and pasted attempt of an already failed presidency to save itself.

Obama is scaring people, the Democrats, his supporters and the tens of millions of Americans in deep, deep trouble. He is not strong enough, too inexperienced and has never been qualified lo lead. Obama has spent a year missing opportunities. Last night was no exception.

It was a difficult call: should he go for contrition or proud intransigence? Admit that he had misjudged the national mood, or refuse to give in to what he would characterise as Republican dirty tricks? In the end, Barack Obama veered more toward the latter than the former. The over-riding theme was summed up in one of the closing passages of this first State of the Union speech: “Americans don’t give up. I don’t give up.”

So officially at least, there was to be no backing down on healthcare reform – except that by now it had become health insurance reform. No more talk of a public option or of a genuinely nationalised healthcare programme: just legislation to curb the rights of health insurance providers to refuse cover to people with pre-existing conditions, etc. The great Obama revolution in health was now a matter of guaranteeing that people would be able to choose their healthcare plans “in a competitive market”.

As for those struggling middle class families which his administration has been accused of neglecting, they got a fair helping of reassurance that he felt their pain. But not a great deal that was new in concrete terms. From a British point of view what was most significant was that even this Left-of-centre president proudly boasted that he had cut the taxes of 95 per cent of working families and that he had not increased income tax by a penny. To loud applause he boasted of having cut 25 taxes which meant that “people had more to spend” which in turn helped businesses to retain jobs. And he was also absolutely clear that the way to create jobs was to cut business taxes. He would abolish captal gains tax on investment for small businesses which are the greatest generators of new jobs in the US as they are here. Yes, even the Left gets it in America: the way to promote growth is to reduce taxes.

His manner and tone were always going to be subject to lively scrutiny: had his nerve been broken? Would the “cool” Obama survive the catastrophic defeat in Massachusetts and the collapse of his approval ratings? Well, he was cool enough. Jaunty, even – which may prove to have been a misjudgement. He clearly wanted to look undaunted but he came across as almost flippant. A more sombre delivery might have seemed more in tune with the anger and frustration of voters who still see themselves as beset by crisis. I rather expect that many of them could have done without the high school valedictory peroration on the greatness of American ideals and how “our values are American values” rather than Democrat or Republican values, and that political opponents who just wanted to “say ‘no’ to everything” were underming those values, etc, etc.

Railing against the evils of partisan politics is the last refuge of the failing leader. It’s a bit desperate to be falling back on that tactic after only a year in office – especially when that year was spent with a firm lock on your congressional majority. If Obama is reduced to blaming Washington infighting for his inability to impress the nation after a year in which his party dominated government, what will the next three years be like?

Washington, D.C. - House Armed Services Committee Ranking Member Howard P. "Buck" McKeon (R-Calif.) today joined with lead sponsor Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Lamar Smith (R-Texas) and other House Republicans to introduce legislation requiring the Justice Department (DOJ) to consult with the Director of National Intelligence and the Secretary of Defense before giving terrorists Miranda rights.

The Ensuring the Collection of Critical Intelligence Act of 2010 (H.R. 4503) requires DOJ to consult with the Director of National Intelligence and the Secretary of Defense before Mirandizing or charging a foreign terrorist as a criminal.

"The mishandling of the Christmas Day bomber underscores the need for better cooperation and communication among Department of Justice, Defense, and intelligence personnel," said Rep. McKeon. "I'm confident we would be in a position to gather valuable information about al-Qaeda's techniques and capabilities had FBI and DOJ agents been forced to communicate with our intelligence community prior to Mirandizing Abdulmutallab."

Listening to President Obama's speech, I could not help wondering how different this night would have been had Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab's bomb not malfunctioned. Four weeks ago our country was the target of a catastrophic terrorist attack. But for the grace of God, Northwest Flight 253 would have crashed into downtown Detroit, killing thousands. Yet just a month later, it is an afterthought for this president. His only mention of the failed attack was a passing reference that he was responding with "better airline security."

Worse, the president's brief discussion of terrorism focused not on what he was doing to defend the country but was, rather, a vigorous defense of himself. His first words on the subject were a chastisement of those who would dare criticize his handling of terrorism, declaring that "all of us love this country" and warning his Republican critics to "put aside the schoolyard taunts about who is tough." It's all about him. No acknowledgement of how close we came to disaster or praise for the brave passengers who subdued the terrorist. No, only this message for his critics: If you question the wisdom of telling a captured terrorist "you have the right to remain silent," you are really questioning the president's patriotism and engaging in childish taunts.

The fact is, the American people have real concerns about Obama's approach to terrorism. They do question the wisdom of eliminating CIA interrogations, closing Guantanamo Bay, bringing the terrorists held there to this country, putting Khalid Shiekh Mohammed and his cohorts on trial in civilian courts, and giving captured terrorists Miranda rights after 50 minutes of questioning. Instead of acknowledging these concerns, Obama dismissed them. It was strange, defensive, arrogant -- and un-presidential.

"A nation can survive its fools, and even the ambitious. But it cannot survive treason from within. An enemy at the gates is less formidable, for he is known and carries his banner openly. But the traitor moves amongst those within the gate freely, his sly whispers rustling through all the alleys, heard in the very halls of government itself. For the traitor appears not a traitor; he speaks in accents familiar to his victims, and he wears their face and their arguments, he appeals to the baseness that lies deep in the hearts of all men. He rots the soul of a nation, he works secretly and unknown in the night to undermine the pillars of the city, he infects the body politic so that it can no longer resist. A murderer is less to fear." --Marcus Tullius Cicero 42B.C.

I just watched the passage where Obama directly criticized the SCOTUS. A chill shot down my spine and my stomach clenched. I had forgotten the SCOTUS sat right down there in the middle of Congress at the SOTU speech. It was like watching a Communist show trial.

It seems that many government bureaucrats (on all levels) don't understand fiduciary responsibility. To them, too many zeros in budget items means infinite.

Obama talks a good game about "family belt tightening" and he even brought up PayGo. He claims that his proposals will reduce the deficit by $1 trillion.

Let's see how often he uses his veto pen between now and November. He can't control the Dems in Congress, many of whom probably look at him and say "You served six months in the Senate. Who the hell do you think you are. We'll do our job and you do yours." Besides, some talking heads are saying that Obama needs to pick a fight with the Dems.

Down to the Banana RepublicsDown to the tropical sunGo the expatriated AmericanHopin' to find some fun

Some of them go for the sailingBrought by the lure of the seaTryin' to find what is ailingLiving in the land of the freeSome of them are running to loversLeaving no forward addressSome of them are running tons of ganjaSome are running from the IRS

Late at night you will find themIn the cheap hotels and barsHustling the senoritasWhile they dance beneath the starsSpending those renegade pesoson a bottle of rum and a limeSingin' give me some words I can dance toOr a melody that rhymes

First you learn the native customSoon a word of Spanish or twoYou know that you cannot trust themCause they know they can't trust you

Expatriated American feelin' so all aloneTelling themselves the same liesthat they told themselves back home

Down to the Banana RepublicsThings aren't as warm as they seemNone of the natives are buyingany second hand American dreams

Late at night you will find themIn the cheap hotels and barsHustling the senoritaswhile they dance beneath the starsSpending those renegade pesosOn a bottle of rum and a limeSinging give me some words I can dance toOr a melody that rhymes

Down to the Banana RepublicsDown to the tropical sunGo the expatriated AmericansHopin' to find some fun

The problem with we Conservatives is that we hate puppies and rainbows and unicorns. Isn't PBO clean and well-spoken? Last night's Statism of the Union can be summed up by, "I am diminished, lack direction, hate the free market, but trust me."

To start, the economy, already weakened by "overshoot" in a no longer productive direction, is pushed over the edge by an external factor (since WWII this has usually been energy costs.)

As the economy Contracts energy costs fall, and don't start to rise again until the economy is solidly recovering. This time gasoline/diesel headed back up before the economy could get its legs solidly planted. This could, quite likely, cause a "double-dip."

In fact, we Could see a decade of double-dip, triple-dip, quadruple-dip, infinitum. It Could be a "Depression."

A recession is when a worker changes jobs to an industry requiring workers of "Similar" Skills.

A "Depression" is when the worker has to Learn "NEW" SKILLS. This is what happened, to a minor extent, in the 30's. That time, however, the worker was usually fully qualified for the new job (farm to factory didn't require a jump in "work" skills, only in societal skills (you had to learn how to live in town, and "punch a clock," for example.)

This time the worker is going to have to have Upgraded Work Skills. We don't need workers with "strong backs;" we need workers with "agile minds." A fifty year old man, or woman, who's been making a living picking up this part, and putting it over there, and tightening a bolt, is really, honest-to-goodness, going to have to learn how to operate a computer to do this 20 times faster, and more efficiently.

A lot of 40 - 50 year olds are going to have a Lot of trouble with this transition. A lot of forty year olds are going to be scrambling to support their families on $10.00/hr jobs. If they can find them.

The Gold Standard in the Ethanol Business is Poet. They have 26 medium-sized (cookie cutter) ethanol plants scattered over 7 corn producing states. During the Floods of 08' the workers couldn't get into one of their Iowa refineries.

The Plant Manager ran the refinery for 3 Days fro the laptop in his house.

Well, tekniKaully, a recession is two negative quarters of GDP growth. A depression, according to one part of wiki, is

"a decline in real GDP exceeding 10%, or 2) a recession lasting 2 or more years"

Now GDP is measure in dollars isn't it, US dollars that is? It would be interesting to see in a "basket of currencies" form. Maybe "Real" GDP numbers are out there that measure GDP accounting for the monetary aspects of it.

In any case, rufus, you were talking about unemployment and the unemployment numbers this time around look pretty bad.

Certainly not recession proof. Heck, when they talk about GDP shrinking a couple of percent my profits shrink by a whole lot more than 2%! 2%, sheesh, I wish I could mitigate drops to that.

Go Bankrupt - naw, I don't see that in my future. Things could wind down enough where I don't earn enough to make it worthwhile since I've managed to get my Liabilities down to a level that won't bankrupt me. It would be conceivable to get a job that required substantial risk on the liability side but I'd try to separate out a vehicle (corporation) to hold that risk instead of me and that vehicle could go bankrupt but I don't see that scenario occurring anytime in the near future.

That which wasn’t is becoming bybest estimations something we’ll achievewithin what I’m assured’s a reasonable time—as soon as now, if I can be believed.The past is past. The future is to come.Mistakes, if they were made, and let me say,I can conceive that they were made by someimpatient staffer, unpaid junior aide,although of course I can’t with certaintyidentify what they might be, because,let me be clear, they were not made by me,will nonetheless . . . where was I? Let me pause.To those who’d make us choose between what mayand might never be done, I say, I say.

We found a house.Within four commuting miles of the Damp Dungeon of Dread AND the Ministry of Darkness.

There are the self-employed, employed, under-employed, unemployed and unemployable.

Among the unemployable might be felons, addicts and the mentally "challenged". Despite the near impossibility of employment, these people form dysfunctional relationships and produce progeny, leading to multi-generational failure. Although there are exceptions, a drive through the poorer sections of any American city after 22:00 would validate the rule.

I just finished the damnedest plate of ribs I've eaten in my entire life. Big, fat, juicey suckers. DAMNED fine.

Stopped at a little restaurant in an itty bitty crossroads community out in the country. They must have slaughtered their own hog (or, their neighbor's,) because you couldn't buy ribs like that from any "packing house" in the Country. Unbeeelievable.

I've been checking around. All the Technical Schools, and technical classes in the Community Colleges are Swamped. The daughter of a friend of my sweetie is going to a tech school to learn Medical Encoding. Just talked to a seventy year old woman (retired from Sharp after 26 yrs, hates Obama) who is enrolled in the local Community College next semester to study the same thing.

Seems to be the "Hot" Field. All the guys are taking "Welding." I gotta wonder about that one.

Allen, don't confuse mentally challenged with mentally ill. There is a difference.

The mentally ill, if guided in the right direction and have proper support don't end up living beneath overpasses. If they're there it's because they choose the path of destruction. They choose to self medicate and then end up abusing illegal drugs. Those are the ones that end up where you say. But don't put everyone in that category. A lot of mental disabilities start a young age and with proper care are very much capable of work.

Here are the average total global crude oil production numbers per day by year, versus average annual US spot crude oil prices:

2002: 67.16 mbpd & $26

2003: 69.43 mbpd & $31

2004: 72.48 mbpd & $42

2005: 73.72 mbpd & $57

2006: 73.46 mbpd & $66

2007: 73.00 mbpd & $72

2008: 73.71 mbpd & $100

Relative to the 2002 production level of 67.16 mbpd, in the following three period, 2003-2005 inclusive, the cumulative three year increase in production was 5,164 mb, versus a three year increase in oil prices of $31. So, for every dollar increase in oil prices, three year cumulative global crude oil production increased at 167 mb per dollar, again relative to the 2002 rate.

But then we have the 2006-2008 data.

Relative to the 2005 production rate of 73.72 mbpd, in the following three year period, 2006-2008 inclusive, the cumulative three year decline in production was 632 mb, versus a three increase in oil prices of $43. So, for every dollar increase in oil prices, three year cumulative global crude oil production fell at 15 mb per dollar, again relative to the 2005 rate.

In the nicest possible way, in order to avoid any claim of insensitivity, I am trying to say that millions of Americans are misfits.

Since I do not personally know the folk I see wondering about aimlessly, any diagnostic attempt would be foolish. Consequently, I have not made the attempt. If that offends, I will leave the job to you...Get back to me with your findings.

When I use to live in Jersey there was a homeless man. He was a veteran and his family did everything they could to get him the help he needed but he lives on the streets by choice. But I wouldn't have known that if it wasn't his hometown where his family lived and told the stories of him returning from war.

When you peel off the layers of signifying and symbolizing, of blathering and bamboozling, Obama lacks in the elemental qualities of manliness necessary to be President. Obama is like the onion in Peer Gynt. Take away the layers there's nothing at the core.

You’ll peel past many layers about helping people, about caring, about giving and devotion of the Obama onion. Those pungent peels taste good to the poor, the grasping, the gullible, the craven, and the rich-so-rich that nothing dents their days. The layers remain the common malarkey of the con-man who hopes that by stimulating your greed for grub or good feelings now, he'll be able to hoover your bank account later. It's an old con and it works. That's why con-men are always with us; not because they are so smart, but because so many are so stupid. Con-artists (and Obama is a brilliant flim-flam flinger) not only know this, they depend upon it.

Obama is very much a man with “a hand full of gimme and a mouth full of much obliged.” Just this morning, as he has for so many mornings, he wrote to me asking for five bucks. This after he squandered so many millions just last night with his noninfomercial for flaming narcissists of all five genders. It’s obvious the man and his minions can't handle money...

Vanderleun wrote that in October, 2008. It's worth reading the rest at the link.

Magnificent Ronald and the Founding Fathers of al Qaeda

“These gentlemen are the moral equivalents of America’s founding fathers.” — Ronald Reagan while introducing the Mujahideen leaders to media on the White house lawns (1985). During Reagan’s 8 years in power, the CIA secretly sent billions of dollars of military aid to the mujahedeen in Afghanistan in a US-supported jihad against the Soviet Union. We repeated the insanity with ISIS against Syria.